Gennifer Choldenko biography

Gennifer Choldenko

Gennifer Choldenko Biography

Gennifer Choldenko's first novel, Notes from a Liar and Her Dog, was a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year and a California Book Award winner. Her second novel, Al Capone Does My Shirts, was a Newbery Honor Book and a School Library Journal, Kirkus, and Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year. Al Capone Does My Shirts has sold more than a million copies worldwide. It has been on the New York Times, Booksense, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. Her most recent picture book, A Giant Crush (illustrated by Melissa Sweet), was published in 2011. If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period, an ALA notable recording, just came out in paperback, and her novel Al Capone Shines My Shoesa sequel to the beloved Al Capone Does My Shirtsis a Kirkus, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Chicago Public Library Best of the Best for 2009. Her first fantasy novel, No Passengers Beyond This Point was called "a fast-paced mind bender" and a "Wonderfully imagined adventure story." Her newest novel, Al Capone Does My Homework, the last book in the Al Capone trilogy, was available in stores starting August 2013. Gennifer's books have been translated into thirteen languages.

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Interview

An interview with Gennifer Choldenko, author of If a Tree Falls at
Lunch Period, for ages 12 and up.

Interview with Gennifer Choldenko, author of If a Tree Falls at
Lunch Period

Why is Kirsten's best friend hanging around with the school's queen bee? Why
are her parents fighting all the time? And, why does Walk's mom think he's going
to mess up like his cousin? The answers to these questionsand many moreare
answered in Gennifer Choldenko's new novel, If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period, a
hilarious and honest story about what happens when two worlds collide.

In addition to being sisters, Kirsten and Kippy are good friends. As the
youngest of four siblings, did you draw on any interactions within your own
family to portray their relationship?

I don't think I drew on any family interactions directly.
I wasn't the least bit like Kippy, neither of my sisters was like Kirsten, and
my family was not at all like the McKenna family. On the other hand, not only
was I the youngest of my siblings, I was the youngest of the neighborhood kids
and all of my cousins as well. We spent so much time with two of my cousins, in
particular, that to this day I consider them to be siblings, not cousins.

Come to think of it, my relationship with one of them, Jody, was a little bit
like Kippy's ...

Readalikes

All the books below are recommended as readalikes for Gennifer Choldenko but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose readalikes

Laurie Halse Anderson is the New York Times-bestselling author who writes for kids of all ages. Known for tackling tough subjects with humor and sensitivity, her work has earned numerous national and state awards, as well as ...
(more)

Martha Brockenbrough has worked as a newspaper reporter, a high school teacher, and as editor of MSN.com, and is the author of Devine Intervention and The Dinosaur Tooth Fairy. She is a devoted grammarian, and founded ...
(more)

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